Presenter Bios

Veldon Sorensen was raised on a family farm in Dietrich, Idaho.  He attended Ricks College (Associates Degree), Utah State University for BS (Soil Science) and Masters Degrees (Agronomy) and completed his formal education at Michigan State University (PhD – Weed Science).  

Having been involved in agriculture, Veldon worked for Utah State Extension Service for 2 years before joining Monsanto Company again for 2 years.  After his graduate degree at Michigan State, Veldon joined Bayer CropScience and spent 27 years in agricultural research and product development before retiring in December 2011.  

With Bayer CropScience the Sorensen Family has lived in Champaign/Urbana, IL as a Research Farm Manger; Kansas City, MO as Herbicide Product Development Manager; Monheim, Germany as World Development Manager – Herbicides; Toronto and Calgary, Canada as Vice President – Product Development; Raleigh, NC as Regulatory Manager – Fungicides; and Salt Lake City, UT – Western Regional Manager.

Veldon’s hobbies include gardening, photography, traveling and raising bees.  He has worked closely with bee research, regulatory issues, label and product development with a focus on bee protection.  Since retiring grandchildren, gardening, beekeeping and bee research have become a new full-time job.  

Coy Clawson has been gardening since before he can remember.  He was born in Southern Arizona into a large family.  When Coy was 3, the family moved to the northeastern Arizona town of Snowflake, where his family had a large garden and raised rabbits. When he was 9, the family moved to Utah and purchased a home in Cottonwood Heights.  Shortly after moving into that home, his mother directed a transformation in the yard, removing lawn and ornamental bushes, and replacing them with fruit trees, grape vines, raspberry bushes and a large vegetable garden, because in her words, “you can’t eat grass.”  Everywhere he has lived as an adult, Coy has found a way to grow a garden, no matter how small, sometimes utilizing land on a neighbor’s lot.  Since moving to Canyon Rim in 1988, Coy along with his wife and gardening buddy Teresa have turned their lot on Larchmont Drive into a “Garden of Eatin’” where they cultivate a wide range of both ornamental and edible crops.   Teresa once described their team effort by stating “You (Coy) haul and dump, and I (Teresa) putter and plant.  By bottling, freezing, drying and root cellaring, Coy and family enjoy eating from their garden year round.

Coy has also been instrumental in the development of the Canyon Rim Naturescape, and has enjoyed learning about our amazing Utah native flora, including many of them that offer edible crops.  Coy enjoys foraging in the wild.  Many of these native plants have found a home in his yard. He regularly shares this knowledge by providing a presentation that has been described as “incredible edibles” at school rendezvous’ and pioneer treks.